12 Best SMS Marketing Platforms for Ecommerce (2026)

For an online store, our pick among SMS marketing platforms is Kanal, our Shopify app: SMS, RCS and iMessage are included from the Scale plan at €149 a month (Kanal pricing), next to WhatsApp, and every campaign and automated text runs on the store's own customers, orders and checkouts. The 11 other platforms below cost from $0.007 to $0.015 per US text on the ecommerce side, or $25 to $29 a month for 500 credits on the business texting side, according to each vendor's pricing page read on November 9, 2026.

We compared 12 platforms on four points: the price shown on the vendor's own page, the channels they send, how they connect to a Shopify store, and the kind of business they fit. Kanal comes first because this comparison is written for online stores; the 11 others are grouped by type (ecommerce platforms, business texting services, then an API) rather than ranked against each other. If your question is narrower, our ranking of Shopify SMS apps compares the apps of the Shopify App Store only, and our guide to SMS pricing explains how a text is billed, segment by segment.

The 12 SMS marketing platforms at a glance

Prices read on each vendor's pricing page on November 9, 2026, in US dollars except Kanal. Links to each page are in the sections below.

How we compared the 12 platforms

Each platform was checked on its own pages on November 9, 2026, against four criteria that decide the cost and the work for an online store:

• Price. The price per text or per credit bundle shown on the vendor's pricing page, with the plan needed to send texts. When a vendor publishes no price, we say so instead of quoting a third-party estimate.
• Channels. Text only, or SMS next to MMS, RCS, email or WhatsApp, as the vendor lists them.
• Shopify connection. An app on the Shopify App Store, a tool built into Shopify, an integration through Zapier, or an API to build on.
• Fit. The kind of business the vendor's own pages describe, which tells you whether its templates and triggers speak to a store.

Prices in the US are only part of a text's cost: carrier fees, sender registration and the number of segments in each message change the bill, as our SMS pricing guide shows with a worked example.

The 12 SMS marketing platforms in detail

1. Kanal: SMS, WhatsApp, RCS and iMessage in one Shopify app (our pick)

Kanal is a messaging app for online stores, built first for Shopify and used by more than 500 brands. It installs from the Shopify App Store and syncs your customers, orders and checkouts, so your segments are your send lists, with no file to import. Its SMS marketing platform covers three jobs:

• Campaigns. SMS campaigns go to a segment of your store (loyal customers, first-time buyers, no order in two months), sent now or scheduled, with a character counter in the editor.
• Automated texts. Automated SMS go out on store events: abandoned cart reminders, order and delivery updates, back in stock alerts, post-purchase offers and review requests.
• Revenue per send. Orders and revenue are attributed to each campaign, so you know what a send brought in, not only how many texts went out.

The same app sends WhatsApp on every plan, and RCS and iMessage from the Scale plan, to the same segments: you pick the channel campaign by campaign. That matters for a store with US customers, since WhatsApp does not currently deliver marketing templates to US phone numbers, as Meta states on its per-user marketing limits page: texts carry the promotions in the US, and WhatsApp serves customers abroad. Our guide to WhatsApp marketing in the USA covers the rule.

Source: Kanal pricing and Kanal SMS page, read on November 9, 2026. Texts are billed on top of the plan, by destination country and number of segments: we give you the rate for your volumes during a demo.

Two things to know before choosing: Kanal does not send email (it connects to Klaviyo for that), and the SMS consent box of the Shopify checkout is not imported, so you add the consent you collected before the first send.

2. Klaviyo: text messaging next to an email plan

Klaviyo is an email and SMS platform built on store data, with an app on the Shopify App Store. On its pricing page, read on November 9, 2026, the free plan covered 250 active profiles, 500 emails and $5 of mobile messages a month, the Email plan started at $20 a month for 500 active profiles, and SMS and MMS were listed as an add-on on paid plans. Klaviyo's pricing explainer says its text messaging (SMS, MMS, WhatsApp and RCS) is separate from the email plan: you commit to an amount of spend that burns down as you send, at rates that vary by message type and country. No price per text is shown on either page.

• Channels: email, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, RCS.
• Shopify: app on the Shopify App Store.
• Worth a look if your email program already runs on Klaviyo. Our Klaviyo pricing guide details the plans, and Kanal vs Klaviyo compares the two on texting.

3. Postscript: SMS for Shopify stores in the US and Canada

Postscript is an SMS platform built for Shopify. Its pricing page, read on November 9, 2026, listed four SMS and RCS plans:

Source: Postscript pricing page, read on November 9, 2026. In 1, the minimum spend of the Starter plan; in 2, its rate per text, before carrier fees.

Carrier fees come on top at cost: the page lists an average of $0.0033 per SMS in the US, and states that its rates apply to the US and Canada only. Every plan includes a dedicated toll-free number.

• Channels: SMS, MMS, RCS (an option on Enterprise).
• Shopify: built for Shopify, app on the Shopify App Store.
• Worth a look if you sell on Shopify to the US and Canada and want a texting tool only. Kanal vs Postscript compares the two.

4. Attentive: SMS, email and RCS priced by quote

Attentive sells SMS, email and RCS to large ecommerce programs. Its pricing page, read on November 9, 2026, shows no figures: the SMS, email and RCS plans are "based on list size and messages sent", the FAQ describes usage-based pricing with no credit system, and a quote comes after a demo. Its AI products have their own fees (flat monthly fees for some, pay per click for another).

• Channels: SMS, email, RCS.
• Shopify: app on the Shopify App Store.
• Worth a look if you run a high-volume program and expect to negotiate a contract. Our Attentive pricing guide lists the questions to ask its sales team.

5. Omnisend: email and SMS, with texts on the Pro plan

Omnisend is an email and SMS platform for online stores. On its pricing page, read on November 9, 2026, SMS and MMS were on the Pro plan only, shown at $177 for three months for 2,500 contacts, cut to $123.90 by a 30% offer for the first three months. The FAQ adds that Pro includes bonus SMS credits equal to the monthly bill. US texts are billed from prepaid credits, cheaper as you buy more:

Source: Omnisend pricing page, SMS volume pricing for the United States, read on November 9, 2026.

• Channels: email, SMS, MMS, web push.
• Shopify: app on the Shopify App Store.
• Worth a look if you want email and SMS in one tool with published rates. Our Omnisend pricing guide runs the numbers, and Kanal vs Omnisend compares the two.

6. Shopify Messaging: texts from the Shopify admin

Shopify Messaging is Shopify's own marketing tool for email, SMS and WhatsApp. Its SMS pricing page, read on November 9, 2026, charges per text and bills monthly: $0.012 per SMS to the United States and $0.025 to Canada, plus $2.15 a month for each approved toll-free number used for SMS marketing in those two countries. A campaign longer than one message is charged as several messages per recipient, and confirmation texts, double opt-in messages and keyword replies are charged too.

Source: Shopify Help Center, pricing and billing for SMS marketing campaigns, read on November 9, 2026.

• Channels: email, SMS, WhatsApp.
• Shopify: built into Shopify.
• Worth a look if you want a few campaigns from the Shopify admin. Our Kanal vs Shopify Messaging comparison covers the differences on automation and channels.

7. Recart: a managed SMS program for Shopify stores

Recart is a Shopify app that pairs SMS with its OneClick opt-in pop-ups. On its pricing page, read on November 9, 2026, the plans that include SMS ("List Growth + SMS") started at $500 a month with a quarterly commitment, at $0.0085 per US SMS and $0.025 per MMS plus carrier fees, which the page puts at $0.0045 per SMS on average. The rate falls to $0.0045 per SMS on its largest, quote-based plan, and these plans include done-for-you onboarding, managed SMS and a success manager.

• Channels: SMS, MMS, with opt-in pop-ups.
• Shopify: app on the Shopify App Store.
• Worth a look if you would rather have a team run your SMS program for a monthly fee.

8. Sender: email first, with SMS credits

Sender is an email and SMS tool with a Shopify app. Its pricing page, read on November 9, 2026, listed the Standard plan at $9 a month and the Professional plan at $15 a month when billed monthly, with SMS from the Standard plan and free SMS credits on Professional. Texts are paid from credits bought by destination country: Sender's help center puts a text to the United States at about $0.015, with packages from $15 to $500.

• Channels: email, SMS.
• Shopify: app on the Shopify App Store.
• Worth a look if you send mostly email and a few texts.

9. SlickText: SMS credits by the month

SlickText is a business texting service, used well beyond ecommerce. Its pricing page, read on November 9, 2026, sold monthly plans by credits: $29 for 500 credits, $49 for 1,000, $79 for 2,000, up to $939 for 50,000, where one SMS costs one credit and one MMS three. Incoming texts are free. Its Shopify page describes a checkout opt-in, abandoned cart reminders, restock alerts and order updates. RCS costs a $500 setup fee and $200 a year.

Source: SlickText pricing page, monthly billing, read on November 9, 2026.

• Channels: SMS, MMS, RCS.
• Shopify: integration described on its site.
• Worth a look if you text a local customer base and want simple monthly bundles.

10. EZ Texting: credit plans for local businesses

EZ Texting is a texting service for businesses of every kind. On its pricing page, read on November 9, 2026, the Launch plan cost $25 a month on monthly billing ($20 a month billed annually) with 500 credits, then $0.04 per extra credit; the Boost and Scale plans started at $75 and $125 a month. An SMS of up to 160 characters costs one credit and an MMS three. There is no EZ Texting app on the Shopify App Store: Zapier connects the two.

• Channels: SMS, MMS.
• Shopify: through Zapier.
• Worth a look if you text a local or service business audience rather than online shoppers.

11. SimpleTexting: two-way texting for small teams

SimpleTexting is a texting service with mass texting and two-way messaging. Its pricing page, read on November 9, 2026, priced 500 credits at $29 a month on monthly billing, with extra credits at 5.5 cents each, plus $10 a month and a $4 activation fee for a local number (a toll-free number has no additional fee). An SMS costs one credit and an MMS three, and incoming texts are free. Its Shopify page connects the store through Zapier.

• Channels: SMS, MMS.
• Shopify: through Zapier.
• Worth a look if a small team needs to text customers back and forth from a shared inbox.

12. Twilio: an SMS API for developers

Twilio sells messaging through its API. Its US SMS pricing page, "current as of October 2026" and read on November 9, 2026, charged $0.0083 per segment sent or received, plus carrier fees from $0.0035 to $0.005 per outbound segment, and $1.15 a month for a long code number. The campaigns, triggers, opt-outs and Shopify data are what your developers build. Our Twilio SMS pricing guide adds 10DLC registration and a monthly example, and our list of Twilio alternatives covers the other APIs.

• Channels: SMS and MMS through the API.
• Shopify: built with the API.
• Worth a look if your team builds texting into its own product or checkout.

How SMS platforms charge: per text or per credit

The 12 platforms fall into two pricing models, and the difference shows up as soon as you send more than a few hundred texts a month:

Rates per credit computed from each plan's price and credits; other figures as shown on the vendor pages linked above, read on November 9, 2026.

• Per text. Ecommerce platforms and APIs bill each message, usually with carrier fees on top. The per-text price is low, and the plan or minimum spend sets the floor.
• Per credit bundle. Business texting services sell a monthly bundle of credits: you pay for 500 credits whether you send 100 texts or 500, and an MMS uses three credits.

On both models, a long message costs more: a text over 160 characters, or one with an emoji, is split into several segments, each billed. Count segments before you compare.

What to look for in an SMS marketing platform for an online store

1. Store data without exports. The platform should read your customers, orders and checkouts directly, so a segment like "bought twice, nothing in 60 days" is one click, not a CSV.
2. Triggers from the store. Abandoned cart, shipping updates and back in stock alerts are the texts that run every day: check that they start from store events, not from a manual list.
3. Consent, sender and quiet hours. In the US, marketing texts need the customer's prior consent, a way to opt out, and sending hours that respect federal rules: our guide to SMS opt-in rules covers them, and our 10DLC registration guide covers the sender number.
4. Revenue per send. A report that ties each campaign to the orders it brought in tells you which texts to keep.
5. Channels beyond SMS. Images and buttons go through MMS, RCS, iMessage or WhatsApp. A platform that sends several channels to the same segments lets you test them without moving your list.
6. The full monthly cost. Plan, rate per text, carrier fees, number fees and segments: compare the same volume on each side, as in our business SMS guide for ecommerce.

SMS marketing platform, SMS service or SMS provider?

Search results mix three kinds of tools under the same words:

• SMS marketing platforms (Kanal, Klaviyo, Postscript, Attentive, Omnisend, Recart, Shopify Messaging, Sender) are software for marketing teams: segments, campaigns, automated flows and reports, connected to a store.
• SMS marketing services and business texting platforms (SlickText, EZ Texting, SimpleTexting) sell texting to any business, from restaurants to churches, with keywords, inboxes and credit bundles.
• SMS providers (Twilio and other APIs) sell the sending itself to developers, who build everything around it.

For a store that sells online, the first group saves the most work, because the texts start from the store's own events.

Our pick for an online store: Kanal

Kanal is our pick because a store's SMS program is mostly automated texts and segmented campaigns, and both run on store data that Kanal syncs from the install. SMS comes from the Scale plan at €149 a month, with the same segments and the same reports as WhatsApp, RCS and iMessage, so one app covers your US customers by text and your customers abroad on WhatsApp. To see campaigns and automated texts on your own store, start with the SMS marketing platform page or book a demo, and we will give you the rate per text for your volumes and countries.